OBSERVATIONS ON SCALE-INSECTS (COCCIDAE) — IV. 



31 



The specimens are badly weathered and discoloured, so that too much importance 

 must not be attached to the colour of the puparia as given above. It is highly probable 

 that the protuberances of the dorsum were pure white when quite fresh and that the 

 texture was also more or less glassy. 



Female, adult. Marchal (I. c.) has described the female and its test, in detail ; but 

 there are some structural points which need elaboration and these are appended below. 



Antennae (fig. 20 a, a) of eight segments, the articulations of the last four 

 segments appearing very broad owing to the thinning down of the surrounding 

 chitin ; in one example the 4th and 7th segments show partial but irregular and 

 incomplete articulation. Another example has the normal number of segments on 

 one side, and on the other only six ; the latter is clearly malformed, owing possibly 

 to the presence of Chalcidid parasites. Legs normal ; lower pair of digitules not so 

 markedly dilated as is usual in the members of this genus ; tarsi shorter than the 

 tibiae. Dorsal pores (fig. 20, b) very numerous ; the intervening spaces finely and 

 faintly reticulated in the more highly chitinised portions. Stigmatic clefts deep and 





[ ^%^^^ 



Fig 20. Ceroplastes vuilleti, Marchal, $; a, a, antennae; 



b, derm glands. 



| broad f the spines at the outer edge relatively long and pointed ; the broadly ovate, 



| inner group very short, conical and placed closely together ; one in the centre of the 



group is larger than the rest. Marginal spines similar to those at the edge of the 



stigmatic clefts, but smaller and widely separated. A number of minute spines are 



scattered over the dorsum. 



Marchal found one antenna with nine segments, but states that the additional 

 segment was probably due to the sub-division of the 8th. His description and figure 

 of the stigmatic cleft and the marginal spines is correct, but he evidently failed to 

 determine the true character of the group of minute conical spines on the interior of 

 the clefts. Apart from these details my examples agree with the rest of Dr. Marchal's 

 description and figures. 



S. Nigeria : Agege and Ibadan, abundantly on pigeon-peas, 1913 (Dr. W. A. 

 Lamborn). 



Dr. Lamborn is to be congratulated on the discovery of the male puparia, as little 

 is known, comparatively speaking, of the males or their metamorphoses in this genus. 



